Big City Boy

Kelvey has been traveling a lot for work this summer so instead of being apart from Eli for 2 weeks during back-to-back trips, Eli and I packed our things and joined her in New York. Eli and I still had to entertain ourselves during the day while Kelvey toiled away at work, so we strapped on our skinny jeans and off we went to take in as much glitz, glamour and evils of the Big Apple as we could. The first day was bright and beautiful so we decided to spend most of our time in Central Park. We hit a lot of the playgrounds and played in the little water fountains but didn't get to see some of the more famous sights because even the park was a little overwhelming for Eli to take in with the large number of kids that were out enjoying the day as well.

The rest of the trip was pretty rainy so we decided to spend a day indoors at the famous FAO Schwarz toy store. On the way, we passed through Times Square so I could show Eli all the flashing lights. Because Eli was at stroller height, he was more interested in what was passing by him below on the street than everything that was way above him. I actually felt bad walking around the city with him in a stroller because he spent most of the time with his ears covered and I was constantly worried about him being at the same level of all the cars' mufflers. We probably should have taken a taxi more but I thought to myself, "Meh, as long as he doesn't have a seizure or start coughing up black stuff he's probably fine". Anyways, Eli's favorite part of FAO Schwarz was hugging all the enormous stuffed animals but I loved seeing him play on the famous floor piano. He didn't know what to do at first and just stood by me watching all the other kids run back and forth, but there was a small window when Eli was the only kid on the piano and I was able to get him to run across it. He didn't really notice that the keys were making noises and lighting up beneath him, but then again he wasn't heavy enough to light up all the keys he stepped on:

We also went to the Toys R US in Times Square and Eli was enthralled with the giant animatronic T-Rex in the Jurassic Park section. Did you know they have a full size Ferris Wheel in the center of the store?! Crazy. We were able to spend a little more time with Kelvey on our last day and explored the city some more together, but I think we were all worn out by then. Thankfully Eli slept the entire flight back to Austin and we didn't have to end the trip with a fussy baby on the plane.

By the way, I love this picture of him in Times Square because he looks like one of those cliche poses of a dashing young model fresh off the bus and full of moxie, just trying to make it in the big city.